Nonprofits & community organizations
We know how grants work
Good technology rarely costs too much. It just hasn't been funded yet. The money isn't in your operating budget. It's in a grant nobody has written.
We've written them, sat on the committees that score them, and advised at the state level on how they get awarded. That's a solvable problem, and it's the one we're actually useful for.
Or call (304) 404-4134. Straight through to the engineer, not a queue.
The part most shops can't help with
Accessibility is a fundable line item
Federal grants, and many state and foundation ones, require recipients to meet Section 508 or WCAG accessibility standards. That obligation doesn't end when the site launches. It runs for the life of the award.
Which means the work can go into the proposal, as a budgeted line, paid from grant funds rather than from money you don't have.
| Stage | What we do | How it gets paid |
|---|---|---|
| Before you apply | Help you scope and word the technology and accessibility line in the proposal | Small fixed fee, sometimes nothing |
| Once it's awarded | Deliver what the line item promised | Grant funds, at our reduced rate |
| Across the grant period | Accessibility monitoring, conformance documentation, updates, uptime | A recurring line in the same budget |
| At renewal | Documented conformance to point at in the next application | Renews with the cycle |
If a funder asks whether your site meets its accessibility obligations, you want a real answer with evidence behind it. That answer protects the award, which is why funders are willing to pay for it.
Our own accessibility statement shows the standard we hold ourselves to. More on the work itself in Web Design & Accessibility.
Money you're probably already losing
Hosting should not be an annual line
Plenty of small organizations pay $20, $40, even $60 a month to keep a handful of pages online. That's $240 to $720 a year, every year, out of an operating budget that has better uses.
A site like that costs about $15 a year to keep online, and that's the domain registration. We'll move you onto infrastructure that costs that, in your own accounts, and show you the bill.
It's a small thing for us and a real number for you. That's usually the fastest way to prove we're worth talking to.
- Yours, in your name Domain, files, and accounts belong to the organization, not to us. Boards change. Volunteers move on. The keys stay with you.
- No care plan required Staying online isn't a subscription. If you want us watching it, that's a service you choose, not the price of existing.
- Nothing to untangle later If you outgrow us or someone else takes over, everything hands off cleanly.
Your appeals may be going to spam
Fundraising email that lands in junk folders costs real money, and almost nothing tells you it's happening. Open rates just quietly sag, and it gets blamed on the message.
It's usually a handful of DNS records that were never set up, or were set up before the rules tightened. Checking takes minutes. Fixing it is often an afternoon.
If you send appeals, newsletters, or event invitations from your own domain, this is worth ruling out before you rewrite the copy again. More in Security & Deliverability.
What it costs
We'd rather hear your real budget
We keep a reduced rate for nonprofits and community organizations. It applies to everything: builds, accessibility work, hosting help, ongoing support.
- Ask what you can actually pay. A sliding scale is normal in nonprofit technology work and we're comfortable with it. We'd much rather hear a real number than have you quietly decide not to call.
- The payer often isn't the organization. A board member, a local business sponsor, or a community foundation capacity grant. Knowing where the money could come from is part of what we bring to the conversation.
- We take on a small number of organizations at no charge each year. It's limited, it's first come, and it's honest work rather than a marketing program. If the timing doesn't line up, we'll say so plainly.
The rest of our pricing is published in full on the pricing page. Nothing here is request-a-quote-only.
Before you write the proposal
Tell us what you're applying for
The best time to talk is while the budget is still a draft. We'll tell you what belongs in the technology line and roughly what it costs, whether or not you hire us to deliver it.